The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
by Raconfleur
Summary: It's not distance or politics that separates them, but time. Their love is one that transcends time and space, through the years and far away. Byakuya/Hisana. AU


**Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach and Yasutaka Tsutsui owns The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.**

I got the idea and permission to publish this from Sabathiel's _The Time Traveller_. Her version is Shizuo and Izaya from Durarara and I was allowed to adapt it into a Byakuya and Hisana version. It's based on the drama _Time Traveler: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time _which was beautiful and heartbreaking and literally had me bawling hysterically. I edited it for the most part, but there are bits of her writing in this since I believe it was written better than I ever could have written it. Sorry if it's rushed. Quoting Sabathiel, it's a "whirlwind romance!" Thank you, Sabathiel, and sorry that I keep mooching off your ideas!

* * *

Yoshiyama Kazuko, a brilliant pharmaceutical researcher and single-mother, was known to all as a workaholic. Not only did she fulfill her duties to the company, but she also devoted her spare time to a side project that she had worked on since she was a mere middle-school student. Focusing on her project, she placed a cherry into a Petri dish along with several little ants. Carefully, Kazuko added a few drops of a serum she developed using an eye dropped, making sure to cover every single ant. With a smile, she closed the lid to her experiment and went back to eating her lunch as she eagerly waited for what would hopefully be good results.

"Yoshiyama-san!" a colleague shouted as she knocked on Kazuko's office door. "Here's your paperwork for this week."

"Thank you," Kazuko answered inattentively as her focus was devoted to the Petri dish on her disk.

"Yoshiyama-san! I'm serious! You're always doing these side projects and then you're late on finishing your paperwork! And then Sensei gets cross with _me_!" her colleague exclaimed, clearly frustrated by Kazuko's inability to focus on what was important.

Forced, Kazuko tore her eyes away from the Petri dish, and to her colleague. "You're right, I'm sorry," she sighed, accepting the papers. "I'll do it right now." However, the moment the girl left, Kazuko dumped the papers into the top drawer of her desk and turned her full attention back to the Petri dish. She let out a soft gasp at the realization that all the ants had vanished completely. She quickly opened the lid to the dish and carefully picked up the cherry by the stem to confirm that all the ants had really disappeared. Grinning, Kazuko knew that she was on her way to success.

On her lunch break, she met with her only daughter, Yoshiyama Hisana, and the two of them ate lunch in a small rowboat in the middle of a small lake. It was tradition for the Yoshiyama's to use the rowboat for celebratory occasions and in this case, it was to celebrate that Hisana had passed the entrance exam to her desired university. "It feels like yesterday that you were just a little girl," Kazuko sighed, so proud of her grown daughter.

"Kaa-san! Don't say things like that!" Hisana answered with a blush. "But I wish Otou-san could see me. Do you think he would be proud?"

"Of course! He'll be thrilled when he reads my email," Kazuko replied with a soft laugh.

"Eh? You email Otou-san? Why didn't you ever say anything?" Hisana gasped, shocked that her mother still kept in contact with her estranged father who lived in America. She knew that Kazuko loved Hisana's father very much, but he had wanted to become famous and work in America. Unwilling to hold him back, she let him go. Hisana didn't know the details of their relationship, and had been too shy to bring it up for fear of hurting her mother.

"You never asked," Kazuko laughed. "He's in Japan, now, too."

"Really? Why didn't you tell me?" Hisana demanded, shocked.

"Because, he's working and he doesn't have the time to stop by. I didn't want to tell you to spare your feelings," Kazuko explained as she pat Hisana on the head sadly. "Besides, we don't need him, right? We have each other."

"Right," Hisana nodded, knowing that her mother was right. Why should she bother with a man who had never been there for her? Kazuko was all that she would ever need.

Later that day, as Hisana returned to her high school and finished classes for the day, she attended her archery club practice and to her embarrassment, let the arrow slip from her fingers before she could even fire it. "Ha, Hisana-chan, at least you still have a good form," an older man commented while the other girls in the club giggled at her.

"Oji-san!" She exclaimed happily, catching sight of her mother's best friend since childhood, Asakura Goro. Due to Kazuko's busy schedule, he had taken it upon himself to pick up Hisana everyday just because he had worked and lived close by. "How was your day?" she asked as he helped her carry her schoolbag to his truck where an unfamiliar song was playing from his cassette tape. "Who's this?" she asked, frowning at the song.

"That's Yoshida Takurou! He was a great singer from when I was still young!" Goro lectured as he drove her home. "He was famous and I always dreamt of being able to see him perform live!"

"Why didn't you?" she asked curiously.

"I was always working. I never had time to play," he sighed sadly. "That is why, Hisana-chan, you have to have as much fun as you can. I know it's cliché to say this, but life really is short. Be sure to live it to your fullest!"

"Of course, Oji-san!" Hisana laughed cheerfully. "Thank you for the ride!" she said as she returned home.

"Bye, Hisana-chan!" he called out, and suddenly realized that he had forgotten to give her something to pass along to Kazuko. Goro poked his head out the window to see if Hisana was still near, but she was long gone. Thinking that it wouldn't be much of an imposition, he called up Kazuko himself and asked to meet her.

"Hi, Goro-kun," Kazuko said happily as she met him in front of the lab building. "I'm sorry that you had to come out all this way!"

"Oh, it's fine. Don't worry about it," he said as he handed her a yellowing envelope with her name on it. "Our old Sensei found it and asked me to pass it along to you," he explained. Curiously, Kazuko picked at the seal and found a picture of her younger self with an unfamiliar boy. However, what was most surprising was the sprig of lavender taped to the corner of the photo. She frowned as her head started pounding upon inhaling the soft scent of lavender and she flinched. "Who's that?" Goro asked curiously, oblivious to the sudden change in Kazuko. "Isn't that our middle school uniform? I don't remember him ever attending though."

"I have to go..." Kazuko stammered, suddenly uneasy about the photo.

"Of course!" Goro answered with a sheepish laugh. "I forgot that you're still in the middle of work. Anyways, congratulations on Hisana-chan's entrance exams. She's such a good girl. See you around."

"Bye Goro-kun," she murmured as she headed back into her lab station. She made sure to lock up her cabinets which contained her precious side project and then told her supervisor that she was leaving work early on account of suddenly feeling ill. She couldn't stop thinking of the photo and kept wondering why her heart hurt and why the scent of lavender seemed to be so nostalgic.

As she hurried to cross the road home, a young teenager crashed into her, causing her to drop her bag. He shouted an apology to her and ran off, leaving Kazuko alone to pick up her belongings which had spilled out onto the road. As Kazuko knelt down, the scent of lavender suddenly filled her senses when she noticed that the photo had fallen out as well. Her head and heart began to hurt, and she felt as if she was forgetting something important. Oblivious to the honking horn of a speeding car, Kazuko looked up too late to see a car coming straight at her. As her head smashed against the concrete, she suddenly remembered the promise that her heart had refused to forget and the boy she had met in the middle school science lab. "Fukamachi Kazuo," she murmured softly before everything went black.

"Kaa-san! I want to see my Kaa-san!" Hisana pleaded as she desperately pushed her way into the emergency room. She still in her school uniform and was sobbing hysterically, horrified at the thought of losing her beloved mother. The doctor on call calmly explained that Kazuko only received a head injury which caused her to remain comatose. They brought her to an unconscious Kazuko where Hisana proceeded to break down into more tears as she clung to her mother's hand.

"Please let her hear your voice often," the nurse told her quietly. "They say it helps." Hisana nodded tearfully and carefully brushed her mother's hair out of her face as she whispered soft nothings, and pleaded for her to wake up as soon as possible.

Everything felt like a daze to Hisana as she waited by herself in the hospital lobby. Goro had arrived as soon as he could and offered her a hot cup of coffee. Still in a state of shock, Hisana stared at it blankly, unable to react. Seeing this, he sighed softly with a smile and placed the cup on one of the empty seats by her and then sat down in the other. "Hisana-chan, everything's going to be alright."

The TV was set on the history channel where a man was lecturing over some events that had occurred years ago. _"Let's travel back in time!"_ he exclaimed enthusiastically, _"Thirty-six years ago today, March 3, 1974, the fourth bus travelling out from Tokyo to the Akita prefecture hit a guardrail and crashed. Many valuable lives were lost that night..."_ He then began to show old newspaper clippings detailing the horrific bus accident.

"You know... I was supposed to be on that bus," Goro commented softly as he glanced up to the TV. Hisana gasped in shock as his words finally elicited a response from her and she glanced up to the TV where there was currently an image of the tour bus smashed beyond repair. "You're lucky that your Uncle Goro is such an untactful guy. I ended up missing the bus entirely because I forgot my bus ticket at home. Fate specifically chose me and let me live, and your mother is one of those people that fate will let live."

Hisana nodded numbly to Goro's story, finding solace in his words of advice. When visiting hours were closed, Goro took her home and upon her insistence, left her alone that night. Now that she had calmed down, she quietly went through her mother's belongings, searching out a white photo album in hopes that she could find her a picture of her father. She knew she had to contact him and tell him of Kazuko's accident.

Remembering that her mother said they wrote emails to each other regularly, Hisana went through Kazuko's emails, searching for any unfamiliar name and paused over the name Hasegawa Masamichi. His email to her talked about his latest film project and closed with a profession of love. Believing him to be her father, Hisana hesitantly penned out an email, explaining that Kazuko had gotten into an accident and that she, her daughter, was writing this in her place. She had considered asking if Hasegawa Masamichi was her father, but decided against it, sending out the brief email.

The next day, Hisana dutifully visited her mother and sat at her bedside, praying that fate would allow her to live as it did Goro. "Kaa-san, wake up," Hisana begged tearfully. "Today's my birthday. I'm eighteen now. We were supposed to go out on the lake with the rowboat..." She laughed bitterly, wiping at her tears and clutched her mother's hand. "I don't know what to do..."

Suddenly, Kazuko shifted on the cot and her eyes slowly opened with uncertainty. "Hisana...?" she asked hoarsely and slowly moved to sit up.

"Kaa-san? It's me! It's Hisana!" she exclaimed, supporting her mother. "Please rest! You've been in a terrible accident!"

Kazuko's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered everything. "I have to leave!" she said desperately, remembering her middle school promise.

"No, please, don't!" Hisana begged, trying to restrain her mother. "You have to stay here!"

"No, Hisana, I have to leave. He's waiting for me," Kazuko answered breathlessly. "I made a promise to meet him. He'll be gone forever if I don't make it."

"Then I'll go in your place!" Hisana said firmly. "Tell me where to go and what to say and I will find him for you!"

Kazuko calmed down at this and looked her daughter in the eyes. "There's a key and photo in my purse," she said calmly. Obediently, Hisana retrieved her bag and dug through it, finding the two important objects. Upon seeing the lavender, a sharp pain tore through Kazuko's head and she fell back against her pillows, nursing a terrible headache. "Saturday... April... 1972," she rasped weakly as she lost the fight in her. Colors began to fill her vision and she limply fell back against the bed. "The middle school science lab... That's where it all began... Tell Fukamachi Kazuo that our promise has been renewed..."

"Eh? 1972?" Hisana repeated, wondering if she had heard her mother right.

"The key will get you there. Go to my lab and find the serum. Drink it and wish for it... I'm so glad I'll see him again... Fukamachi Kazuo... I'm so glad..." Kazuko whispered as she began to slip back into unconsciousness.

Determined to fulfill her mother's request, Hisana had gone straight to her Kazuko's lab after her mother had fallen back into her comatose state. There was nobody there was it was a weekend, and Hisana used the key to unlock her mother's cabinet. She looked through the first drawer to find some neglected paperwork. The second contained nothing of any relevance and the last and final drawer contained a jar filled with old yen coins and a metal case containing to vials of clear liquid.

Sitting down at Kazuko's desk, Hisana carefully picked up one of the vials, opened it and smelt it. It smelt like lavender and she hesitantly lifted it to her lips to drink. Surprisingly, it didn't taste as terrible as she thought it would and closed her eyes, wishing for April 1972. When nothing happened, Hisana couldn't help but to start laughing, feeling awfully silly for taking part in such a childish notion. Really, time travel? Shaking her head, Hisana grabbed her schoolbag and made sure to put the jar of yen coins in there.

As she stood up, she made the mistake of second-guessing herself. "I wonder if the date was actually supposed to be February 1974?" she said thoughtfully and shook her head. Suddenly, the room started to spin, and Hisana felt dizzy as her head began throbbing painfully. A black hole opened up in the middle of the lab, sucking her in and Hisana screamed as it swallowed her whole.

* * *

Kuchiki Byakuya, an aspiring director and twenty year old college student, had chosen to spend his afternoon at the university's science labs to use their chemicals to develop some of the film from his camera. He was currently focused on measuring the right amount of chemicals and was extremely fastidious about it, knowing that his film would be ruined if he was careless. It had been a project of his for so long that he had devoted every spare second to work on it with a close friend of his. Byakuya was not surprised that his friend chose to slack off and sleep in that morning, leaving him to work on their project by himself. As he thought of ways to exact his revenge on his lazy friend, a bag suddenly fell from out of nowhere and smashed into his head.

"What the hell?" he growled, knocked off his feet as he grabbed at his head. He stared up at the ceiling, wondering how in the world a girl's schoolbag had hit him. As he slowly stood up, a scream filled the room and a girl fell from the ceiling and onto him. "Ow! What the hell?" Byakuya stared in shock at the unconscious girl on the floor and hesitantly peered back up to the ceiling, fearing what would fall from it next. Glancing back at the girl, gently tapped her on the shoulder to see if she was still breathing.

"Ah!" she shouted, sitting up in shock, and startling him. "Fukamachi Kazuo?" she demanded, forwardly grabbing him by the shoulders.

"No...?" he answered with a confused look. She stared at him for another moment and then proceeded to pass out on the floor without another word. Unsure what to do but knowing that he couldn't just leave her there, Byakuya decided that it was probably best to take this mysterious girl home with him until she woke up. She slept under his _kotatsu_, a wooden table with a warm blanket draped over it, and stayed under there until the next morning when she came to with a groggy groan. She crawled out from beneath the table, gingerly touching her throbbing temple and looked around in confusion. "Morning," Byakuya murmured softly causing her to jump and scream in surprise.

"Who are you?" she questioned, pressing herself into the corner of his room. "What happened...?"

"I'm Kuchiki Byakuya, and I should be asking you that," he answered, shaking his head with disbelief. "You don't remember what happened at all?"

She shook her head shyly and looked around his apartment. It was surprisingly neat for a man's home and there were many books and videos neatly organized on his bookshelf along with a calendar. "The date!" she gasped, jumping up and crossing his room to grab a hold of the calendar. "February, 1974?" she murmured and let out a loud wail when she clearly remembered that her mother told her March 1972. "I'm two years too late!" she exclaimed, and then promptly ran out of his apartment.

"Hey, wait!" Byakuya shouted after her, scrambling off the floor to chase down the odd girl. "You forgot your bag!" he called out, but she was a quick one and was already halfway down the street by the time he made it out.

However, lucky for him, she didn't seem to recognize the streets and returned to him sheepishly. "I don't know where I am," she said sadly, reaching for her bag. "Can you take me to West Setagaya Middle School?"

"Huh? What do you need to go there for?" Byakuya asked with a bothered groan. "Who are you, anyways?"

"Yoshiyama Hisana, thank you for your hospitality," she gasped and she bowed her head down to him, shocked at how rude she had been. "I'm not familiar with the roads. Come with me, please!" Byakuya sighed, and followed, expecting to walk there peacefully, but instead, she grabbed him by the wrist and sharply pulled him into a run. He was breathless by the time they made it the middle school, but Hisana seemed to have a boundless amount of energy as she hailed a group of schoolgirls leaving the campus. "Excuse me, please!" she hollered, running to them as she dug out her mother's photo from her bag. "I'm looking for this young man."

"Isn't that Yoshiyama-senpai beside him?" one of the girls asked, peering at the photograph. "She graduated last year, I think."

"Yes, yes, but I'm wondering about him," Hisana clarified, pointing to the boy.

"I don't think I've ever seen him before," another one of the girls commented and before Hisana could ask another question, a teacher appeared from the front door and shooed the girls away, telling them to hurry up and go home.

Hisana had looked so defeated, Byakuya couldn't help but to pity her and treat her to lunch. "After you eat, you should go home," he commented, handing her a menu. "Your parents must be worried about you."

"Huh?" she answered, still depressed as she stared down the date in a newspaper.

"You do have a home, right?" Byakuya asked in a low whisper as if he was afraid of offending her.

Hisana nervously bit her lip and leaned in towards him. "Actually, I'm from the year 2010."

Byakuya stared at her seriously for a second and then snorted. "Did you get hit in the head badly?"

"Oi, it's the truth!" she snapped and grabbed her schoolbag. "I have proof! You wanna see it?" Hisana dug through her bag, handing him a 2010 magazine and presented him with her cell phone. "Ha! Technology of 2010!"

"Is it supposed to be a small radio?" Byakuya asked, looking over her phone.

"No, it's a telephone! You can communicate with anyone anywhere!" she exclaimed. "But um, I can't get signal right now, but besides that, it can take pictures and you can play games on it!"

"It seems a little far-fetched..." Byakuya mumbled, but accepted her proof anyways. "So you travelled thirty-six years into the past to meet some guy?"

"No, no! Well, I suppose, yes, but it's for my mother. She got into an accident and asked me to meet Fukamachi Kazuo in her place," Hisana explained hastily. "I don't know anybody here but I was wondering if you could—"

"No," Byakuya said flatly, refusing her before she could even finish her request.

"Eh? Why not?" she pleaded. "Please let me stay with you. Come on, Byakuya!"

"Really? No honorifics?" he answered, peeved by her forwardness. "No way."

"I'm begging you," Hisana said sadly. "I have to deliver this message to Fukamachi Kazuo and maybe after I deliver it, my mother will open her eyes again. Please help me find him..."

"I'm sorry, I can't," Byakuya answered, shaking his head as he paid the bill and left. Hisana followed him out to the street, head down as she tried to come up with her next plan. She waited at the corner of the restaurant, fidgeting with her bag strap with a pitiful look and Byakuya sighed, hating that he had a soft heart. "Alright, fine," he sighed, returning to her. "What are you going to do next?"

"I don't know," she stammered, but was thrilled that he was willing to help her now. "I probably should have asked those girls for my mother's high school."

"You could always check the school listings?" Byakuya answered, thinking of all those yearbooks in the library. When she gave him a clueless look, he sighed and took her by the arm to lead her back to the middle school. "Come on," he said, opening the window and climbing through. "Let me see that photograph again?"

"Class 3C," she said, pointing to their uniforms and class pins as they began to scrutinize every name and photo until he found one of them. "Ah, there, Yoshiyama Kazuko. That's my mother," Hisana said, pointing to the portrait of a pretty girl, and then went to see if there was a picture of Fukamachi Kazuo. "That's weird, he's not in here."

Byakuya shrugged and jokingly commented it was a ghost photograph, causing Hisana to frown and gently smack him in the arm while assuring him that the photo was real. "Look up your mother's contact information. Maybe you can talk to her directly."

"Good idea," she answered, flipping to the back for an address. "Let's go now!" she said, and Byakuya couldn't help but to notice how pushy she was. Unfortunately for them, Yoshiyama Kazuko was not home as they rang her doorbell numerous times. Just when Hisana was about to give up, a familiar face rode by on a bicycle. "Oji-san?" she called out.

The boy came to an abrupt stop and stared at her with a befuddled look. "Uncle?" the younger Goro repeated and Hisana mentally kicked herself for being so candid.

"Ahhh, sorry!" Hisana giggled, as she tried to explain herself. "Kazuko-chan is my cousin and she talks about you a lot so I kinda blurted it without thinking!" she laughed sheepishly. "I'm Hisana. Do you know where Kazuko-chan is?"

"Yoshiyama transferred to Yokohama," Goro explained with a confused look. "But I can give you her new address if you want."

"Ah, that would be very helpful, thanks!" Hisana said gratefully as she gave him her notebook to write down.

"Hey, wait, do you know a Fukamachi Kazuo?" Byakuya asked, grabbing Hisana's bag to retrieve the photograph. Hisana smiled, glad that Byakuya was on-task and offered Goro the photo.

He frowned at the picture and shook his head. "I don't know him, but that's my middle school uniform..."

After Goro left to go to work, Byakuya commented, "Isn't it kind of weird that nobody seems to know this Kazuo guy? It's like you're chasing a ghost." He reached over for Hisana's notebook and read the address of Kazuko's new high school. "Might as well go tomorrow. While we're here, why don't you come with me and find my cameraman?"

"Um, okay," Hisana answered, following him shyly as he led the way to a shabby apartment. She couldn't help but to be thrilled that she could spend more time with Byakuya. She hadn't noticed it before, but he was a handsome guy!

"Oi, Gotetsu, you here?" Byakuya called out, looking around for his lazy friend. Hisana suddenly let out a shriek as she caught sight of a naked man passed out in another room. "Figures," Byakuya growled, heading to the sink to fill a bowl with cold water.

Lucky for Gotetsu, he had been roused by Hisana's high-pitched scream and woke before Byakuya could empty the bowl of cold water on him. "Oi, Bya-kun, who's that? Your girlfriend?"

"She's my cousin," Byakuya lied. "Gotetsu, Hisana."

"Hisana? What a pretty name," Gotetsu murmured, hung over and still half-asleep. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too, but please put on some clothes," Hisana answered quietly, face red as she turned away from the two.

Despite the fact that Gotetsu was conscious, Byakuya still dumped the bowl of cold water over his head, causing him to yelp and grab a blanket to cover himself. Sober, he had cleaned himself up as Byakuya pulled out his screenplay from his bag to show his friend. Hisana was so surprised to see another side of Byakuya. Initially thinking him to be cold and emotionless, she was delighted to see how passionate he was over his film as he and Gotetsu went over how they would tape each scene. The two were such a good pair of friends from the way they got along, bickered, and disagreed. Hisana found the change in both of their personalities amusing after Gotetsu brought out a six-pack of beer. However, as a drunk Gotetsu pledged his love for a pop idol, he ended spilling his beer on both his camera and Byakuya's screenplay.

"Quick get a rag!" Byakuya shouted, red in the face as he scrabbled to save his screenplay.

"Forget your screenplay! Save my cameraaaaaa!" Gotetsu howled, waving the piece around.

Giggling, Hisana rummaged through Gotetsu's closet for a spare shirt, and froze when she saw that he was developing some photographs on a line. Quickly, she grabbed the first shirt she saw and threw it at the two boys and then went back to examining the pictures. Yoshiyama Kazuko was the subject of one of them and without thinking, Hisana yanked the picture off the line and pocketed it.

The next day, Hisana went alone to look for Yoshiyama Kazuko as both Byakuya and Gotetsu were still hung-over from the previous night. She checked out every single girl who walked by, using her reference photo and when she finally caught sight of her, she excitedly called her out. "I'm sorry for calling you out like this," she said softly as she bowed her head down to the girl. "Could you help me? I'm looking for Fukamachi Kazuo, this man right here," she explained as she handed her the photograph.

Seeing the sprig of lavender, Kazuko touched her head and winced in pain. "Sorry, I don't know him," she said puzzled by the photo. "I don't remember taking it," she said, trying to hurry off.

"Wait, please!" Hisana begged, catching her by the arm. "Then could you tell me about the person who took this picture?" she asked, handing her Gotetsu's picture.

"Hasegawa-kun took that," she said with a blush on her face, recognizing it.

"Hasegawa?" Hisana repeated, suddenly wondering why that named sounded so familiar.

"Yes, Hasegawa Masamichi-kun, but you might know him as Gotetsu!" she explained with a happy look on her face.

Hisana frowned, and the familiarity of the name suddenly prickled the memory of the love letter in her mother's inbox. Hasegawa Masamichi, the man from the present time that was possibly her father. She looked up to see Kazuko admiring the photograph with a blush on her face, and it was so clear that Kazuko was in love with him. If the person who asked for the favor couldn't remember, then maybe Hisana should just give up. Kazuko didn't remember anything about Fukamachi Kazuo because she had moved on and found love with Hasegawa Masamichi.

After going separate ways from Kazuko, Hisana had lost her way again and couldn't remember how to get back to Gotetsu's. Kazuko was long gone so she couldn't even ask for directions. Even worse was that it started to rain so defeated, Hisana went to the closest convenience store to buy a drink and get something to eat while she waited out the storm. To Hisana's dismay, the rain hadn't let up in the half hour that she was waiting out in the convenience store. Peering out the glass windows, she pouted, seeing that the rain was still relentless and she feared the thought of braving the teeming winds on her own. She gasped suddenly, seeing Byakuya's familiar silhouette and her heart skipped a beat when she realized that he had been looking for her.

"Byakuya!" she exclaimed, running out from the convenience store and gently tackled him to get under his umbrella. She frowned, finding that his shirt was thin and he was shivering slightly against her. "How long have you been out here?"

Byakuya's cheeks tinted pink and he looked away with a shrug. "What does it matter?" he answered defensively.

Laughing, Hisana huddled close to him, and wrapped part of her warm scarf around him so they could share as they walked back to his home beneath one umbrella. "I've always wanted to do this," she admitted with a soft smile.

"What? Share an umbrella with somebody?" Byakuya answered.

"No, share a scarf with somebody," she laughed shyly as she looked up to him. "I saw it in a drama and really wanted to try it."

"You're weird," Byakuya answered, looking away from her. However, his eyes couldn't help but to drift back to meet hers.

"Could it be you're captivated by me?" she lightly teased.

"No way in hell," he answered flatly, tearing his eyes from her.

"You're such a bad liar," she laughed as she clung to his arm. "But that's a good thing. It means you have an honest face and that you have a good heart."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Byakuya asked with a skeptical look on his face as he wondered if he should be offended by this quirky girl's candidness.

"When I first met you, I thought you were really mean and cold, but after that different side of you with Gotetsu and even now when you're watching out for me, I've realized that you're a really nice guy and you're a huge softie!" she explained happily.

Rendered speechless, Byakuya tore his eyes away from her and shook his head. "I still think you hit your head really hard..."

Later that afternoon, the rain had yet to let up, and Hisana, bored, counted up the number of yen coins she had in a jar, stacking them in neat towers on top of the _kotatsu_, while Byakuya meticulously made changes to his screenplay for his next filming session with Gotetsu. "Byakuya, what's your home like?" Hisana asked curiously as she flopped to the floor in boredom.

"Still no honorific?" he mumbled softly to himself with a small frown as he looked up from his papers. "I have a mother and a father and no siblings."

"I don't have any siblings either," Hisana answered. "I've always wanted a sister, though, but I've no memories of my father."

"I don't speak to my father at all," Byakuya added solemnly. "We're not on good terms anymore."Hisana knew she would never understand Byakuya's relationship with his estranged father, but she couldn't help but to think that he should have tried to amend things. She would have protested this, but caught sight of the melancholy look in his honest eyes and knew that it was best to drop it. Realizing that he thoroughly depressed her, Byakuya brought the conversation to a lighter topic. "Hey, am I distinguished director in your time?"

Hisana shook her head and shrugged. "Sorry, I don't really watch a lot of movies so I wouldn't know," she answered and then hesitantly added, "But I bet you will be. You're going to be this huge accomplished hotshot that can have anything that he wants in the world. You'll be married to a beautiful woman, and have lots of kids and you'll even be in good standing with your father. And by then, I'll just be nothing but a memory."

"You'd be a much cherished memory," Byakuya assured her with a smile. "And hey, why not hang out with the fifty-six year old me?"

"Ew, no," she laughed, and teasingly reminded him, "I'm still a youthful girl. I have better things than to spend my time with old men!" She forced a smile on her face, trying to hide how hurt she felt over the thirty-six years that separated them.

Byakuya's smile looked forced as well and he cleared his throat. "Hey, what if you bought a listing in the newspaper?" he suggested, changing the topic once again as he handed her a page in the newspaper. "I was thinking and what if Fukamachi is a time traveler like you? What if he wasn't supposed to exist in this time, just like how you don't now? If you buy an ad, it'll be there forever, and Fukamachi will be sure to find it and he can time travel to you."

Hisana blinked, leaning towards him to stare at the newspaper listings. "Ohhh, that makes sense," she commented and then frowned. "But... no way that could happen. That's just impossible."

"Like you should be talking," Byakuya answered with a snort. "Let's go now. We can make it before they close."

"Now? But it's still raining!" Hisana protested, but her complaint fell on deaf ears as Byakuya simply knocked down her towers of yen coins and swept them all back into the jar. She let out a soft whine as he pulled her to her feet by her arm and proceeded to drag her out of his warm and dry apartment. At the newspaper company, they managed to bargain for the cheapest listing in the newspaper and Byakuya helped Hisana draft it to fit the character limit. The next morning and to Byakuya's dismay, Hisana had shook him awake before the sun had even risen, begging for him to take her to the convenience store so they could buy a newspaper. Half-awake, he obliged to her request, muttering how childish could be as she frantically flipped through the pages of the newspaper to find her listing.

_Fukamachi Kazuo, meet me in West Setagaya's science lab where it all began. Saturday, March 2, 1974._

With one week from March 2, Byakuya had Hisana help him and Gotetsu film some of the final scenes of his movie. As Byakuya busied himself with directing, Hisana couldn't help but to stare down Gotetsu and wonder if she looked like him at all. Likewise, Gotetsu couldn't help but to notice the way Byakuya and Hisana acted around each other, especially when she had run to Byakuya's side in an instant to help him carry film props. When they had finished filming the entire movie and the mock crew was helping take down the set, Gotetsu leaned in and slyly remarked to Hisana, "You two aren't really cousins, are you?"

Startled, she nearly dropped the box of tools she was carrying. "How did you know?" she asked after regaining her composure.

"Just by looking," he answered with a grin. Seeing the uncomfortable expression on her face, he laughed and gently pat her on the head. "Don't worry, I won't tell. Besides, I'll be leaving for American soon, anyways."

"Eh?" she asked, looking at him with surprise. "But—"

"I expect you to take care of Byakuya for me!" Gotetsu said with a nod.

Hisana looked down to her feet sadly and then hesitantly asked, "But what if Kazuko-chan asked you to stay?"

He looked taken back by her question and forced himself to laugh it off. "She wouldn't do that. She'd tell me go to America."

"Exactly..."

Before Gotetsu could even answer or try to wipe that sad look off Hisana's face, Byakuya suddenly grabbed him by his collar and yanked him back. "Oi, sorry, I need you to look at one of the scenes. I don't think it zoomed in correctly," he said, pulling his friend away. He paused, seeing Hisana's sad eyes and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Huh? No, I'm fine!" she said, quickly putting on a smile. "Really, don't worry. Go fix your movie." When they were gone, she quietly added, "Men of the 70s are so troublesome..."

That night, to celebrate, Byakuya took Hisana out to eat, instead of staying in and eating ramen, which had become a regular thing for them the past month. The radio was playing soft music as they ate, and she couldn't help but to find the lyrics familiar. "This song...?" she asked as she gently nudged his arm.

"Takurou?" he answered as he began to hum along to the tune.

Hisana giggled and nodded. "Yoshida Takurou, right? I didn't know that this song came from this era," she commented and Byakuya couldn't help but to be amused by her naiveté. Turning to him, she quietly asked, "Why did you help me?"

"Why are you asking that now?" Byakuya replied, looking at her confused.

"I don't know, just asking," she said and suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the setting, she teasingly poked him and said, "I guess if a pretty girl like me asked for a favor, it'd be natural that you couldn't refuse!"

She had expected him to viciously deny such a thing, and to her surprise, Byakuya just laughed and answered, "Yeah, that's probably it."

When they returned to his apartment, his neighbor quickly stopped him with an urgent look and handed him the telephone. Byakuya handed Hisana his keys, telling her to up ahead without him and took the call. When he finally returned, he slumped to the floor, defeated. "Byakuya?" she asked, kneeling down in front of him. "What happened?"

"My father collapsed due to overwork," he sighed, closing his eyes. "The truth is, we stopped speaking because he was against me coming to Tokyo. I knew that the situation was getting bad over there, but I put aside his struggles to fulfill my selfish dream of becoming a director."

"He must have supported you if he let you come to Tokyo. It wasn't your fault that he collapsed," Hisana said, trying to make him feel better.

"What the hell have I been doing?" Byakuya snapped at her suddenly. "I've been such an idiot," he sighed. He yanked his screenplay out his bag and proceeded to crumple into a ball and smash it into the floor.

"But Byakuya, you're so passionate about film!" Hisana protested, trying to save his dream. "You've worked so hard on this. I've seen you give it your all! It'd be such a shame to give it all up now."

"You don't understand anything!" Byakuya shouted at her. Needing to cool off, he grabbed his bag and stormed out of his apartment, leaving her alone.

Knowing it to be best, Hisana went to West Setagaya the next day without Byakuya to wait for Fukamachi Kazuo. A neighbor had passed along a message saying that he was staying at Gotetsu's and she didn't want to bother him and make things worse. She had gone early in the morning and accidentally dozed off for an hour. When Hisana awoke with a start, her elbow bumped into one of the glass beakers, pushing it off the table. She winced, expecting to hear it shatter against the floor, but frowned when she heard nothing. Slowly, she peered over the table and gasped when she found it suspended several inches above the floor.

"Are you the one who called for me?" an older man asked, finally showing himself as he picked up the glass beaker and set it back onto the table. He was dressed completely in black with a leather trench coat and appeared to be middle-aged. "Who are you?"

"My name is Yoshiyama Hisana. I'm Yoshiyama Kazuko's daughter," she said shyly and looked at him. "Are you Fukamachi Kazuo?"

"That was just an alias," he explained. "My real name is Suguro Ken."

"Suguro Ken," she repeated and then looked at him curiously. "You don't look like a high-schooler, though."

"That's because I'm from the year 2660," Ken explained with a laugh. "When I had time leapt for the first time, I didn't bring an extra elixir with me to return back home and I was forced to live as Fukamachi Kazuo until I could create another. During that time, I met your mother and she fell in love with me. When I finally developed the serum, I had to leave her behind and erase her memories."

"That's why nobody seems to know you..." Hisana said, piecing everything together.

"Yes, now please tell me why you were looking for me."

"Kaa-san got into a really bad accident," she answered sadly. "She wanted to come here herself, but she wasn't well so I came in her place to tell you that your promise has been renewed."

Ken smiled softly, remembering his promise to the woman he had once loved, the one that had gotten away. "Your mission is now complete. You must return to your time now."

Hisana's stifled a gasp, suddenly realizing that this was the time she had been dreading the most. She wasn't ready to leave and return home, especially since she and Byakuya were on bad terms! She wanted to stay just a little longer to make it up to him. "I want to see somebody before I leave. Can I...?" she asked hesitantly.

Ken knew that he had been in the exact same shoes as this girl and nodded. "I will wait for you until evening."

Hisana returned to Byakuya's apartment and was surprised to find him back home, packing a suitcase. "Byakuya!" she exclaimed and through her arms around him. "I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me anymore."

Stiffly, he embraced her back and shook his head. "I should be the one apologizing. I should have lashed out at you like that. I'm sorry."

"Why are you packing?" she asked quietly.

"I have to go home and see my father," he sighed. "I'm taking a bus to Akita tonight. I'll call you tomorrow morning when I get there. I have to go. Bye." Shyly, he kissed her on the forehead and pulled away to hurry out.

"But I won't be here tomorrow..." Hisana said quietly as tears began to trickle down her cheeks after Byakuya had gone. Sniffing, she wiped her tears away and shook her head. This wasn't the way she wanted to say good-bye. This wasn't how things were going to end between them. "Byakuya!" she shouted, chasing after him down the street as she threw her arms around him again. "I love you," she confessed.

"I love you, too, Hisana," he answered, squeezing her tightly.

"I want more time with you," she said, deciding that she would be there to see him off at the bus station. They walked hand-in-hand to the station in silence as Hisana bit her lip, trying to stave off any tears. She didn't want to make him feel bad for leaving.

"Hey, are there still cherry blossoms in the future?" Byakuya asked, looking at one of the trees by the station. She nodded to his innocent question and he smiled in return. "When I come back, let's watch them together."

"I'd really like that," she answered and watched as Byakuya wrote something a piece of paper and put it into a flat metal canister.

"This is for you," he said, handing it to her. "It's my film. It's not done yet, but I'm going to finish when I come back and we'll watch it together. I promise."

Hisana nodded to him and shyly kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going to miss you."

Byakuya laughed at her gesture and kissed her properly on the lips. "And that's how it's done," he teased, brushing a strand out of her face. "I'm going to miss you a lot, too," and Hisana was thrilled to know that he shared those exact same sentiments. "Bye!"

Hisana smiled as she watched Byakuya to leave. She knew she should have felt guilty for not telling him that she was leaving, but this seemed to be the proper way to say good-bye. Byakuya was a smart boy, and surely he knew that she couldn't stay in the past. And when she returned to the future, they could be reunited as friends and that would be enough for her.

As Hisana turned to leave, someone suddenly collided into her. "Goro-kun?" Hisana gasped, blinking in recognition at her uncle's youthful version. "What's going on?"

"Hi, Hisana-chan," Goro said sheepishly as he struggled to get a hold of his bags. "I was going to go skiing in Akita but I stupidly forgot my ticket at home!"

"You're not going to make it!" she said, recalling where he lived.

"I guess you're right," he answered, completely defeated. "I really wanted to go, too, but I guess fate's against me today."

Hisana's eyes widened at the prickle of familiar words and gasped in horror. "No," she breathed, turning to run after Byakuya as she recalled a horrible flood of memories.

_'You know... I was supposed to be on that bus... I ended up forgetting my bus ticket at home, so I missed it... Fate let me live...'_

_'Thirty-six years ago today, on March 3, 1974, the fourth bus travelling out to the Akita prefecture hit a guardrail and crashed. Many valuable lives were lost that night..."_

_'I'm taking a bus to Akita tonight...'_

Ignoring Goro, Hisana ran after Byakuya, pushing aside anybody that had gotten in her way. The only thing on her mind were the horrific images of the bus crash and how crucial it was to get to Byakuya in time. She wished that she could have run faster or that she had told him that she was leaving to go home. Everything was falling into pieces as she suddenly realized why Kuchiki Byakuya was such an unfamiliar name to her despite having Gotetsu as a minor part of her life.

"Byakuya!" she screamed, arriving at the departure point. She grabbed the closest person in uniform, demanding for directions to the Akita bus and took off in the direction the man pointed in. "Byakuya!" she shouted as she searched the crowd of people for his familiar silhouette. "BYAKUYA!" she shrieked, horrified when she found that the Akita bus was the fourth to depart and even worse, she could see him boarding it.

"BYAKUYA!" she screamed again, voice hoarse, and to her horror, a loud clap of thunder drowned out her voice. Rain began pouring down on her as she pushed her way through, desperate to make it to the bus. She was almost there. Just a little further! "Bya—_mmf!"_

A hand clasped over her mouth and another seized her arm and forcefully pulled her back. Hisana was face to face with Suguro Ken and viciously fought against him. "No matter how tragic an accident is, we cannot change the past!" he shouted at her.

"No! Byakuya! I have to save him!" she sobbed as she fought against Ken. She could see that the bus doors were closing and that they were preparing to leave.

"You cannot alter history!" Ken roared.

"I refuse!" she shouted, and pulled out the second vial of time travelling serum. "I'm staying in the past!" she shouted and threw it to the ground before Ken could do anything. Caught off-guard, his grasp on her loosened and Hisana promptly kneed him in the groin before taking off after the bus. "Byakuya!" she screamed as the bus started driving down the road. "Stop the bus! Stop! Please!" she shouted, hitting the back of it, praying that somebody would see her. "Byakuya!" she screamed again, desperately praying that he could hear her over the rain.

It was too late. The bus made a turn, and accelerated down the street, leaving Hisana behind and alone as Ken caught up to her and grabbed her to stop her from doing anything else foolish. The bus was now long gone. She was an uncontrollable wreck, sobbing against him as she tried to hit him. "Byakuya! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry, Byakuya! I'm sorry!" she sobbed, legs giving out beneath her as she collapsed onto the slippery concrete. She knew, and she couldn't do anything to save Byakuya.

"You couldn't save him," Ken said quietly, embracing her to him as she continued to cry brokenheartedly. "It's not worth one life to change the entire world. I will take you back your era and everything will be alright again. And I will also take away your memories so they do no weigh you down."

Hisana instantly fought against Ken again, horrified that all of these memories would be gone just like that. "NO! Don't you dare!" she shrieked, pushing him away. "I won't forget him! Don't you dare touch me!" Ken reached his hand towards her and she slapped him, hard. "I hate you. You can't take my memories away from me. I won't let you."

"You would never have been able to be together," Ken said sadly, catching her wrist and she stared at him in horror, finally losing all the fight in her as she continued to sob in anguish. Gently, he pressed his fingers against Hisana's forehead and her head tipped back as she fell unconscious against the wet concrete. As Suguro Ken held the girl to him, he knew that like Yoshiyama Kazuko, Hisana's heart would always remember.

* * *

Hisana awoke on the floor of her mother's room with a soft groan. She rubbed her neck, regretting having not slept in a bed and looked around in confusion. She felt like she had slept for ages, though that was probably due to the situation. Slowly going down the stairs, she frowned when she realized that she must have left the television on. _"Let's travel back in time! Thirty-six years ago today, on March 3, 1974, the fourth bus travelling out to the Akita prefecture hit a guardrail and crashed. Many valuable lives were lost that night..." _Hisana stared at the program blankly, and then reached over for the remote to turn the television off. She numbly packed her schoolbag, and then went to the hospital to visit her poor mother.

Meanwhile, as Yoshiyama Kazuko opened her eyes, waking from her coma, she realized that there was a man at her bedside. "Fukamachi Kazuo?" she whispered with a gentle smile.

"She's a lot like you," he commented, referring to Hisana.

"I'm so glad that you could meet her," Kazuko sighed. "You said that the next time we met, you would be a different person."

"Then, until we meet again," he answered, and reached over to erase her memories. "Our promise will always stand. Good bye, Kazuko-chan," he said, as he leaned in and gently kissed her on the forehead. He left Kazuko's room, passing Hisana on his way out and couldn't help but to glance back at her and wonder if she'd end up just like Kazuko.

"Kaa-san!" Hisana exclaimed, seeing that her mother was wide awake and lying there in a daze. "Are you alright?" she asked, frantically checking over her mother.

"Hisana-chan...?" Kazuko murmured softly. "What smells so nice?"

"Ah, is it this?" Hisana asked, picking up a sprig of lavender at her mother's pillow. "It smells nice. It's kind of _nostalgic_... I wonder who left it here," she said as she leaned in to let her mother smell it as well. In doing so, she felt something heavy shift in her pocket and confused, she reached in and pulled out a flat metal canister.

Kazuko stared at the canister and then took the sprig of lavender from her daughter's hands, smiling as she inhaled its soft scent. "Yes, it does smell nostalgic," she said agreeably.

Hisana returned home later that day after receiving news that her mother would be alright was already on her way to a decent recovery. When the phone rang, she hurriedly grabbed it, expecting it to be the hospital and answered, "Yoshiyama residence, this is Hisana."

"Hi, Hisana-san," a soft male voice answered on the other end. "This is Hasegawa Masamichi... I received your email."

"Ahh, Kaa-san is alright, thank you for calling," Hisana answered.

"Is that so? I'm glad," he replied. "Um, Hisana-san, are you doing alright?"

"Hm? I'm fine. I wasn't in the accident," she said, starting to study the metal canister she found. "Neh, Hasegawa-san, you're a cameraman right? Is there any chance you have a projector that plays something old? I'd really like to borrow one."

"Of course," he said, sounding surprised. "I can bring it by."

When Masamichi came by, he brought with him several pieces of equipment. "What is it that you're trying to play?"

"I don't know, I think it's an old movie," she said, showing him the roll of film.

He studied it carefully and gave her the right projector. "I haven't seen one of those in a while. Where'd you get it?"

"I found it," Hisana answered with a shrug. "I think it was called _Planet of Light_ or something. Well, that's what's on the label. Hasegawa-san, are you alright?"

She had trailed off, seeing that Masamichi had inhaled sharply and turned away to hide a tearful gasp. "No, I'm sorry, it's just that title... I haven't heard of it since an old friend of mine... Never mind that. Do you need me to show you how to use it?"

"No, I can figure it out. Thank you very much," Hisana answered, and decided not to ask about his relationship to Kazuko and herself. She and her mother had managed just fine without him and they could continue to do so.

"Are you sure you know how to work this?" Hisana asked sternly as her friend, Kaien fiddled with the projector.

"Yeah, quit nagging, already!" he answered, shooing her away.

"Oi, I'm serious! If you break that, I'll hurt you!" she snapped, moving to close the curtains and turn off the lights as Kaien finally got the roll of film to play.

Hisana sat down on the floor as the movie began to play. It was a black and white film, and the effects had been obvious and exaggerated, emphasizing just how old it really was. It was a story of how an explosion placed the earth in post-apocalyptic setting and the only survivors had been a pair of lovers, separated by time and space with their only form of communication being cell phones. The male painted a beautiful cherry tree on his side before promptly falling dead and the female died from heartbreak shortly after. Afterwards the camera focused on the cherry tree painting with the subtitles that said, "Don't let the last sakura be a painting," and then faded out to the credits where bold white letters displayed:

_Director: Kuchiki Byakuya_

"What a weird movie," Kaien laughed as he picked up the film's container. He suddenly froze, seeing Hisana's trembling shoulders. "Sana-chan? Are you _crying_?"

Hisana slowly reached up to touch her cheeks and gasped in realization that there were indeed tears streaming down her face. "I don't know," she answered, unable to tear her eyes away from the director's name. "I don't know..."

Kaien opened the lid of the container, trying to see if he could find anything about the odd film that could explain his best friend's behavior and in doing so, found a small note that they had both missed. "Uh, here?" he said, offering her the slip of paper.

With shaking hands, she slowly reached and unfolded it slowly to see a man's handwriting scrawled on it. Feeling Kaien's eyes on her, she briefly scanned the words and softly read out, "_Hisana, I hope to watch this movie with you as well as the sakura one day..._" With tears still streaming down her face, she laughed as she thoughtfully murmured, "No honorific...?" Whoever had written the note must have been in a hurry when he penned it out. She had no idea what the words meant, or why they made her sob harder, but all she knew was that she was forgetting something important.


End file.
